Daniel Auer
Home University: Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien (WU)
Host University: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC)
Contact Information: [email protected]
Alternative Poverty Measurements – A Multidimensional Approach to Wellbeing in Illinois, US
A growing number of scientific approaches stress an understanding of poverty that reaches beyond monetary measurements. The notion of human wellbeing considers a person’s standing in society as well as certain prospects based on health and education, beside any material achievements. However, poverty described as a more complex social phenomenon by incorporating more information than monetary inputs is rather poorly represented in policy making.
Based on the debate on finding more accurate ways of measuring poverty than the current income proxies, this paper provides an alternative multidimensional approach by investigating five specific dimensions of wellbeing: capability, income, employment, housing & facilities, and health. While different approaches during the process of creating such an index are discussed briefly, the paper stresses the importance of a more comprehensive picture of poverty than the conventional income-based measures can provide.
By converting indicators of wellbeing into ratios, an alternative method of poverty thresholds can be established, basing on the percentage difference to an overall benchmark. This simple yet powerful approach implies a significant value added for policy planning and the investigation of quality of life in general.
Host University: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC)
Contact Information: [email protected]
Alternative Poverty Measurements – A Multidimensional Approach to Wellbeing in Illinois, US
A growing number of scientific approaches stress an understanding of poverty that reaches beyond monetary measurements. The notion of human wellbeing considers a person’s standing in society as well as certain prospects based on health and education, beside any material achievements. However, poverty described as a more complex social phenomenon by incorporating more information than monetary inputs is rather poorly represented in policy making.
Based on the debate on finding more accurate ways of measuring poverty than the current income proxies, this paper provides an alternative multidimensional approach by investigating five specific dimensions of wellbeing: capability, income, employment, housing & facilities, and health. While different approaches during the process of creating such an index are discussed briefly, the paper stresses the importance of a more comprehensive picture of poverty than the conventional income-based measures can provide.
By converting indicators of wellbeing into ratios, an alternative method of poverty thresholds can be established, basing on the percentage difference to an overall benchmark. This simple yet powerful approach implies a significant value added for policy planning and the investigation of quality of life in general.